The Pitt men’s soccer program made significant strides last season under head coach Jay Vidovich, and that progress has carried over into the offseason, as it was announced on Friday that the Panthers’ 2018 recruiting class was ranked fifth in the country by Top Drawer Soccer.
The seven-man class consists of two four-star recruits in defender Chandler Vaughn and goalkeeper Johan Penaranda, two three-star recruits in defender Alec Townsend and forward Nykolas Sessock, and three two-star players in defenders Jared Juleau and Facundo Costantini and midfielder Rodrigo Almeida.
Five of the incoming recruits played in the academies of Major League Soccer teams, with Vaughn and Townsend both coming from the DC United system, Penaranda from NYCFC, Sessock from the Philadelphia Union, and Juleau from the New York Red Bulls.